How to Update a Chromebook

To get the most out of your Chromebook experience and to ensure the safety of both your laptop and personal information, it's important to know how to update Chromebook to keep it running the latest version of Chrome OS.

How to Update a Chromebook

By default, Chrome OS will check for updates and download them automatically whenever a Wi-Fi or wired connection is detected. You can be proactive, however, by manually checking for and applying any available updates via the following steps.

1. Log into your Chromebook, if necessary.

2. Click the Time indicator, located in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.

3. When the pop-out interface appears, click Settings, represented by a gear icon.

4. Chrome’s Settings should now be displayed. Click About Chrome OS, located in the left menu pane toward the bottom of the screen.

   On older versions of Chrome OS you might first need to click the Hamburger Menu button in the upper left-hand corner of the Settings screen.

5. The About Chrome OS interface should now appear. Click Check for updates.

6. Chrome OS will now check to see if any updates are available for your particular Chromebook. If there are any, they're automatically downloaded.

7. If an update is downloaded, click Restart to complete the process.

8. Your Chromebook will restart. Enter your password when prompted and log back in to Chrome OS, which should now be fully updated.

Chromebook Update Notifications

As mentioned above, Chrome OS will often download updates without your knowledge, as long as there is an active internet connection. If one of these updates has been downloaded and requires a reboot to complete the installation process, a notification will appear in the lower-right hand corner of the screen next to the aforementioned time indicator. Any time you see one of these notifications, it's recommended you save any open files and restart at that point.